Namibian team for CAA Southern Region Junior Champs

Athletics Namibia has selected a strong squad of 54 athletes to represent Namibia at the Confederation of African Athletics Southern Region Junior Championships that will take place in Windhoek on Saturday and Sunday, 28th and 29th April.

Since the event will serve as a qualifier for the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July, the top Under 19 athletes from Southern Africa are expected to be in attendance at the Championships.

Thirteen countries of the SADC region have been invited, including the Indian Ocean islands, while the final entry confirmation is expected later this week.

The Namibian team includes 29 male and 24 female athletes.

Amongst the boys, some of Namibia’s top athletes include FC Pieterse (110m hurdles), Gilbert Hainuca (100m) and javelin thrower Bredell Wessels, while the top female athletes include Sune Wittman (javelin and discus) and Charlene Engelbrecht (discus and shotput).

Pieterse set a new Namibia School Sport Union (NSSU) record of 13,87 seconds in the Boys 18-19 years 110m hurdles at the National Schools Championships on March 30 and 31.

The Erongo sprinter Gilbert Hainuca astounded observers by winning the Boys 18-19 year 100m in an exceptional time of 10,18 seconds. Later it however emerged that the electronic timing device did not work for that race and that it was a hand time, but it was still a fast time nonetheless which would relate to about 10,40 electronically.

At the National Schools Championships, Wessels won the Boys 16-17 year javelin with an exceptional throw of 63,39m, and although he will be competing in the U19 category, he could make an impact.

Amongst Namibia’s female athletes, the field athletes Charlene Engelbrecht and Sune Wittmann will lead Namibia’s medal hopes.

Wittmann set a new record of 47,00m in the Girls 16-17 year javelin at the National Schools Championships, while Engelbrecht has been in great form in South Africa where she is competing for Pretoria University.

The Namibian team is attached.